Former South Korean President Found Guilty of Insurrection
A court found former South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan guilty of insurrection for ordering troops to fire on pro-democracy protestors during the 1980 Gwangju Uprising. The ruling overturns a previous acquittal for his role in suppressing the protests while imposing martial law. Chun, who faced similar charges during his lifetime, died in 2021.
- The Gwangju Uprising began on May 18, 1980, after students protesting Chun Doo-hwan's expansion of martial law were brutally beaten, shot at, and tortured by government paratroopers. The violence caused ordinary citizens to join the protests, seizing weapons from local armories and police stations. - While the government officially stated that around 200 civilians and 26 security forces personnel died, victims' associations and researchers estimate the actual civilian death toll could be between 600 and 2,300. - In 1996, Chun was convicted on charges of mutiny, treason, and bribery related to his 1979 coup and the Gwangju massacre. He was sentenced to death, a sentence later commuted to life in prison plus a fine of ₩220 billion. - Both Chun and his successor Roh Tae-woo were pardoned and released from prison in December 1997 by then-President Kim Young-sam, who said it was in the spirit of national reconciliation. - A recent legal battle, finalized by the Supreme Court in February 2026, centered on Chun's 2017 memoir. The court found that the book distorted facts about the uprising and defamed a priest who testified to witnessing military helicopters fire on civilians. - As a result of the defamation ruling, Chun's family must pay 70 million won (approx. $48,600) in damages, and the memoir cannot be published or distributed unless dozens of false passages are deleted.
